Walk Me Home- Catherine Ryan Hyde

I have previously read and enjoyed Pay It Forward, one of Catherine Ryan Hyde's previous novels.  Her work is held in high regard and I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to review Walk Me Home. 

Sisters Carly and Jen feel they have no option but to run when their mother dies.  Worried they will be taken into care and separated, the girls set off on a long and arduous journey to find Teddy, the one person Carly really trusts.  However, Jen is less sure about what is the best thing to do and exhaustion and lack of money takes its toll on the sisters relationship.  Will they make it to Teddy alive and well?  And if they do, will the faith Carly has in him to be their saviour become a reality?

I've read quite a few 'walking' books recently- The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce... I do like the premise of a journey being an escape, an opportunity for self discovery, a humbling experience that makes us seem small compared to the world at large. 

I found Walk Me Home really gripping to begin with, yet I felt the middle section was a bit too long and not as action packed as I'd have liked for a book of this length.  I didn't warm to either Carly or Jen as characters, which meant I felt detached from them for most of the book and wasn't overly bothered about what happened to them.  However, I thought the scene setting was great, and especially enjoyed meeting the wide variety of people the sisters encounter on their journey- these characters were interesting and diverse, much moreso than the protagonists. 

Overall, Walk Me Home was a thought-provoking read that touches on trust, sisterhood and altruism.  Suitable for young adults or adults, it will make you assess whether you can ever wholly trust anyone. 

7.5/10
Walk Me Home is out now in paperback, published by Black Swan. 

*With thanks to Black Swan for providing me with a review copy of Walk Me Home*

You can find out more about Catherine Ryan Hyde at her website, www.catherineryanhyde.com .

The Chocolate Money-Ashley Prentice Norton

When I was sent a review copy of  The Chocolate Money, I wasn't sure what to expect.  It is quite different from my usual reads, and not for the faint hearted. Set in Chicago in 1978,  The Chocolate Money introduces us to ten year old Bettina. The only child of hedonistic Babs Ballentyne, heiress to the exclusive Ballentyne chocolate fortune, Bettina is exposed to a wild lifestyle including naked Christmas cards and extravagant parties.  Babs treats Bettina partly as an equal, sharing with her the explicit details of the liaisons with her married lover, and partly as an inconvenience who she belittles. 

The story then moves on to 1983, where 15 year old Bettina is away at boarding school.  Her relationships with peers and teachers are examined, along with the difficulty Bettina has in conforming to societal norms and expectations as a result of her unconventional home life. 

I found The Chocolate Money really hard to get into.  The first section, where Bettina is exposed to crude sexual tales from Babs was quite disturbing and unsettled me.  As a reader I felt very uncomfortable with their mother/daughter relationship.  I found it easier to read about Bettina's life away from Chicago, where her friendships and experience of life away from Babs were unveiled.  There are still some uncomfortable moments and graphic sexual scenes in this section too though.  However, I was interested to know how the story would end, and there was something compelling about the book.  Bettina is a fascinating character, as is Babs, and it was their unconventional outlook which kept me reading.  I was wide eyed throughout and felt like I had led a very sheltered life after reading The Chocolate Money! 

'Packed with unflinching honesty and acerbic wit... the perfect coming-of-age novel that will have you laughing through even its darkest moments' promises Stylist- yet I didn't really find much humour, black or otherwise, in this book.  I am sure there will be people who find this a fascinating read.  I felt it was well constructed and an interesting concept, but couldn't get past the disturbing elements which left me deeply unsettled.

The Chocolate Money is out now, published by Black Swan.

7.5/10

With thanks to Black Swan for providing me with a review copy of The Chocolate Money.  You can find out more about Ashley Prentice Norton and The Chocolate Money here.